


Priority

by randomfandomimagine



Series: Imagines (Reader Insert) [32]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fainting, Friends to Lovers, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Hospitals, Love Confessions, Other, Partners to Lovers, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 16:43:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18347636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomfandomimagine/pseuds/randomfandomimagine
Summary: Something strange is happening in SHIELD. After a meeting with her superiors, Y/N meets with Steve for something mysterious. However, things change when something happens that endagers Y/N’s life.





	Priority

The man watched me carefully, so I averted my gaze and folded my arms over my lap.

He wasn’t the one I usually spoke to when I was called for a meeting, so I wondered where Nick Fury was. This man was also making me talk a lot, about all the missions I had gone to for SHIELD and my latest activity. Weren’t they informed about all this already?

“What can you tell me about Steve Rogers?” He suddenly asked, and I could still feel his eyes on me, observing my every move.

“What do you mean?” My throat was dry from talking, so I reached forward to the glass of water and took a big swig.

“How would you describe your relationship with Captain Rogers?”

“He’s… a friend. I would say we are pretty close”

The man nodded and made a pause. Then stood up all of a sudden, inviting me to do the same with a hand motion.

“Thank you, Y/N” As I headed for the door, he encouraged me to leave with a hand in my back. “That will be all”

“Thank you” I repeated in hidden astonishment, exiting the room.

As soon as the door closed behind me, I heaved a sigh. I didn’t like that man one bit, he gave me a strange vibe. Besides, everything was so weird around there lately…

Thousands of questions burned in my mind as I exited the building. Where they making changes to SHIELD? Were they keeping secrets? Why was everyone behaving oddly? Where was Nick Fury? What was happening with the Avengers?

My phone vibrated in my pocket once I was outside, and I quickly picked it when I saw it was Steve who was calling.

“Y/N?” He immediately asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m… At SHIELD HQ…” I shook my head, trying to focus. “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s going on”

“Yeah, I noticed, what-?”

“I’m on my way”

“Steve?” 

He had hung up, so I resigned myself to wait knowing that we would meet right there.

*

It was tough catching up with Steve and his enhanced body, so I jogged behind him as he absolutely rushed through the streets.

“Steve!” I managed to get ahold of his strong arm and make him turn around to me. “Will you talk to me? I’m starting to freak out “

He nodded and sighed, apparently rattled even if his kind blue eyes were as soft as usual, but the frown above them betrayed them.

“We’re meeting with him” Steve whispered, looking around him as though he feared someone might hear him. “He might give us some answers”

With that, he kept on walking, but now slower so I could accommodate to his pace.

“So there’s something going on” I said, trying not to give too much away in case we were being listened to.

When Steve arrived at the SHIELD HQ, he didn’t really say anything as he took me by the arm. We had walked in silence for a while until he muttered something about Nick Fury calling him.

I was short of breath, but I figured it was because of our dash. Besides, I would admit that I was a bit rattled myself, firstly because of my interaction with that man from SHIELD and after that because of Steve’s urgency.

“Ah!” I sharply inhaled when a sudden pang arrived to my side.

“What?” Steve worriedly turned to me, scanning me as his eyes watched me up and down.

“N-Nothing, I’m okay” I absently held there where it hurt. “It must be from all the running”

His frown deepened, but he only gave a cautious nod and slowly moved to keep on walking. I myself felt my heart racing in anguish, because it didn’t really feel like any pain I had had before in my life.

“Hang in there, we’re almost there” He briefly looked over his shoulder to me as I walked behind him. “Sorry about the hurry, but right now that meeting is a priority”

“Why?” I tried to compose myself and conceal a wince as the pain slowly spread.

“I think he knows something about it” Steve let out a tired sigh. “Although I don’t know what to believe any more”

I frowned, not used to seeing him that rattled and confused. Steve was always confident in his beliefs, in his morals, in that he knew what he was fighting for and that he always tried to do the right thing. And now he just seemed… lost.

My mind worked slowly, but it felt like I should say something in return, to maybe comfort him in this difficult moment. However, no words left my mouth when I parted my lips.

I was extremely queasy, and I began feeling disoriented and faint. I stopped walking when that strange pain focused on my chest. Something was wrong with me.

“Steve?” I uttered weakly, barely able to speak up. My vision became blurry.

He was walking away, in his rush not noticing I wasn’t following. I stretched my arm, managing to be quick enough to tap him in the arm before he was out of reach. However, I wasn’t strong enough to hold on to him.

“Y/N?” There was almost panic in his voice, but I couldn’t know if his face reflected it too, because my eyes had closed themselves.

I gaped for air and my knees buckled. My heart raced and the blood throbbed on my ears. I felt Steve’s strong arm brushing against me, but he was too far to catch me. My body received the painful impact as I limply fell on the ground.

“Y/N!” Even if everything sounded distant and distorted, I heard him breathing and gasping close to me. “Y/N, can you hear me!”

I felt myself slipping in and out of consciousness. I wanted to open my eyes, to move, to hold on to Steve as his hands anxiously shook me, I wanted to call him, ask for help, beg him to stop whatever was happening to me, anything! But my body could only surrender to the unknown ailment that had suddenly struck me.

*

Why was everything moving so fast? Was the world spinning around me? Why was I in so much pain? Why couldn’t I breathe? Why was I so nauseous and my mind so foggy? Why did every fiber of my body hurt?

Something supported me, and it felt like someone was extremely close to me. Making an enormous effort, I managed to open my eyes. I saw Steve, even if his eyes were focused up ahead. He was carrying me, practically running as he took me somewhere.

Everything felt too loud, too bright and too tiring. Steve was panting, his feet rapidly hitting the ground, I bounced up and down with his fast movements.

I didn’t feel so good. I needed him to help me somehow.

“S… St…” I tried to say, but my eyes closed again.

*

The chaos inside and outside of me were done. Everything was now calm, and I finally felt stable. Granted, my everything hurt still and I felt so weak that all I did for a while was just lie there and focus on breathing. But at least it didn’t feel like my body was out of control anymore.

Something warm was holding my hand, tight yet gentle. I struggled, but I opened my eyes to see that it was Steve’s own hand. When I looked up at him, his blue eyes were fixed up ahead. He seemed deep in thought as his free hand was pressed against his mouth.

I softly squeezed his hand and took a deep breath, taking my time until I found my voice.

“Tell me I don’t look as bad as I feel” His glance finally fell on me.

“Hey” Steve whispered in relief, leaning forward in his seat and dedicating me a soft smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I was hit by a truck…” I slightly moved to get comfortable, groaning and wincing. “What happened?”

“Well, according to the doctor… You were poisoned” He watched me intently, almost like he was afraid I was about to pass out again.

I took a deep breath, letting the news sink in. My head was spinning. After a pause in which I felt Steve softly squeezing my hand, I looked into his eyes.

“Am I okay, though?” My mouth felt dry and my tongue seemed to be made out of cardboard, but I had to ask, even though the fact that I was alive was telling enough.

“Yeah, she said that as long as you get plenty of rest, your body should recover with time” His thumb kindly rubbed the back of my hand. “Luckily, the poison isn’t always lethal”

“Take that, bad guys” I sarcastically said, tiredly resting my head back on the pillow, closing my eyes.

“Can you think of how it happened?”

“Actually, yeah, SHIELD”

“What do you mean?”

“I started feeling sick after my meeting, they probably poisoned the water”

There was a brief pause in which we could only hear the little background noise of the hospital. Then, Steve’s voice gently broke the silence.

“So it’s true…” He sighed, averting his gaze.

“What is?” I slightly sat up, frowning at his words.

“I don’t know the details, but…” He forced himself to lock eyes with me again. “SHIELD isn’t what we thought anymore”

“Have you spoken to Fury?”

“No, not yet”

“Why? I thought it was a priority”

“It was, until you needed me” Steve tightly held my hand, now with both of is. “As soon as you did, my priorities changed”

“I appreciate that, Steve, but…” I vehemently shook my head, refusing to accept it. “This is bigger than me, you need to see Fury”

“I’m not leaving you” Was his stern response, and his voice admitted no buts.

“Fine, then tell him to come!” I threw my hand up in resignation.

“Really?” Steve seemed surprised that I had given in so easily, but I was honestly exhausted. I didn’t have the energy to argue with him.

“Yeah, if I have to rest and you’re staying with me…”

“Okay” Reluctantly letting go of my hand, Steve picked up his phone and stood up. “Give me a moment, I’ll call him”

I watched him walk out of the room, the phone already against his ear, and talk outside for a moment. I rested my eyes in the meantime, hoping that uncomfortable feeling of unwell soon passed.

*

While we waited for Fury to arrive, Steve was my own personal nurse and brought me anything I needed. Consulting the doctor first, he gave me some water and offered to get me something to eat –since they said I was allowed to eat soft foods –but my stomach still felt too queasy.

After I hydrated myself, I felt slightly better. My system was still eliminating any traces of the poison, so all I wanted to do at the moment was to lie in that bed and rest, not move a muscle. Steve’s company helped to keep me calm too, as staying in that place made me restless.

“I hate hospitals…” I commented, noticing the soft and concerned look he was giving me, probably without noticing.

“Me too” He stirred in the seat. “Although it had been a while since I was in one”

“That’s right, sometimes I forget you weren’t always… like that” I eloquently looked down to his muscled body.

“Yeah” I managed to make him smile a little. “Just the asthma was bad enough sometimes”

“Is your life very different now?” I chuckled a little. “Besides, you know, the time jump?”

“It is, I was small. People used to look down to me and now… They always look up to me” Steve looked into the distance, probably immersed in his own memories.

After all that he had been through, I couldn’t help but to emphasize with him. He sacrificed himself only to suddenly wake up in a different time period that he had to adapt to, and in which he had survived every single person he was close to. Between only just Peggy and Howard and Bucky… He had lost so much…

Meaning to cheer him up a bit, I rested my hand over his. This brought him back to reality as he locked eyes with me and curved up the corners of his lips.

Just then, the door swung open to reveal Fury. He glanced at our hands but didn’t comment on it as he walked inside the room.

“Fury” Steve gently let go of me and stood up.

“Captain” He briefly nodded, then turning his attention to me as he moved to stay next to my bed. “Y/N, you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere” I smirked, exchanging a quick glance with Steve. “They aren’t getting rid of me that easily”

“Good” Fury softly patted my shoulder before turning back to Steve.

The latter stood next to him, bearing a focused expression as his strong arms folded over his chest. His entire stance implied seriousness and business, almost like he was in the middle of a battle.

“What do you know?” He asked Fury, who paused to take a look around the room.

“Something fishy is going” The head of SHIELD replied, staring at Steve. “I believe Hydra has infiltrated it”

“Hydra?” My friend repeated in astonishment.

“But why go after me?” I intervened, slowly sitting up. “I’m just an agent, why not go after Stark or Thor? After the Avengers”

“Because they were going after him” Fury pointed at Steve, even if his eye was focused on me. “And they wanted to take something from him first”

Steve frowned and watched me for a good five seconds before looking back at Fury and speaking up.

“What do we do?”

“For now? Wait for orders. And you” He fondly grabbed my arm. “Rest, don’t make me get my ass in here again”

“Yes, sir” I grinned at him, earning a satisfied nod.

“We’ll talk soon” Fury began to head for the door again after our brief conversation. “Somewhere private”

He stood still for a moment, looking from Steve to me. We nodded, understanding what he meant. They were probably watching our every move, we needed to be careful.

With that, Fury left and the room grew silent like he had never even been here. Steve sighed and slowly paced up and down the room in a pensive mood.

“Steve?” I called him, tossing the sheets off my body.

“Yeah” He immediately stopped and watched me.

“Can you help me up? I need to stretch my legs” He was by my side in the blink of an eye.

“Come on” As I slowly swung my legs over the edge, Steve wrapped an arm around my waist and held me by the arm with his free hand. “Easy”

Once I sat at the edge of the bed, he motioned for me to stay put while he went to retrieve my shoes so I didn’t have to stand in my bare feet. I sweetly smiled as he knelt down and put them on himself.

Then he didn’t lose a second to straighten up and help me down.

“I got it, I’m okay” He then positioned himself before me, and I held on to his biceps to lower myself until my feet touched the ground.

“You sure?” Once my legs had to support my weight, I stumbled a little, but he tightly held on to me.

I weakly leaned against his chest for a moment, waiting until the sudden dizziness passed. I took a few deep breaths, still holding on to him myself, and looked up at him.

“Yeah, just a head rush” I smiled as I looked up at Steve, but the gesture froze in my lips when I realized how close we truly were.

I was literally leaning on him, with his arms around me and my hands against his chest now. He looked down to me to save the height difference, and our eyes locked.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again” He whispered, gingerly pressing his hands against the small of my back.

“Sorry, Steve” I chuckled, flustered by the closeness, and hoping I wasn’t blushing. “But it wasn’t really my fault”

I wondered if he was feeling the same things I was at that moment. The heat, the butterflies in my stomach, the lump in my throat, the giddiness. And at the same time the comfort of the closeness and his touch.

“I know” Came his deep voice after a short silence. “But if something happened to you…”

“It didn’t” I gulped, suddenly puzzled by the intensity in his eyes despite the gentleness reflected in them. “Besides, it’s not like I’m that important, I’m only a small SHIELD operative”

My heart was beating so violently that I almost feared that he would hear it, being so close to me. I made to separate myself from him, but his hands pressed against my back so I rested over him again.

“I don’t think you’re getting what I’ve been trying to say” My knees suddenly felt weak, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of my convalescent state or the impact of his words.

I let out a shaky breath as I finally understood. Maybe I wasn’t that important to SHIELD, for I was important to him.

I noticed how his hands softened the pressure, giving me the option to stand back if I really wanted to. But I didn’t.

“Oh” I uttered, holding on to his shoulders for proper support.

We stared into each other’s eyes for a moment until he timidly leaned in closer. I didn’t think twice to separate the distance between our lips until they collided.

I stood on my tippy toes, being helped by his arms as they reclaimed their spot around my frame and slightly pulled at me to meet with his tall stature. I locked my arms around his neck as the kiss deepened and my heart wildly raced. I was over the moon, kissing the man that I had fallen in love with.

Feeling light-headed and craving oxygen, I reluctantly broke away, gasping as I clung on to him. He jumped up slightly in alarm, quickly leaning me on him and tightening the hold on me once more when my strengths failed me.

“I’m supposed to take it easy, Rogers” I weakly smiled, turning my body sideways so I rested over his chest until the new spell of dizziness wore off.

“Sorry” He replied between worried and amused, and gently moved me and sat me down in the chair he previously occupied. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” My breaths were evening and my heart started to beat at a more normal pace.

“What do you say we get out of here and I take you home?” His kind blue eyes locked with mine. “I’ll stay with you until you feel better”

I feel guilty to ask that of him with everything that was going on. But Fury had said we needed to wait until we heard more from him, and besides, I really needed Steve by my side in that vulnerable moment.

“That sounds good” I nodded, getting comfortable in the chair.

“I’ll be right back” He said, leaving a small kiss in my cheek before he exited the room.

I just sat there with a big smile on my face, waiting until he got back, and thinking about the passionate kiss we had just shared.


End file.
